Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online.

These data were originally collected by the Censuses of Population for England and Wales, and for Scotland. They were computerised by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and its collaborators. 

Like England and Wales, the Scottish census gathered data on numbers of rooms (specifically, rooms with windows) from 1891 onwards, but the reports for 1891 and 1901 tabulate only the total number of rooms for each reporting area, so it is impossible to calculate numbers living in overcrowded conditions. This study comprises extensive although not always complete transcriptions of the housing density (persons per room) tables from the Scottish censuses of 1911, 1931, 1951, 1961 and 1971, cross-tabulating numbers of persons versus numbers of rooms. The 1921 reports do include similar data for Scottish counties, but these have not been computerised.

Housing Statistics (persons per room) from the 1911, 1931, 1951, 1961 and 1971 Censuses of Population.

Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.